Tue, Mar 24, 2009 | 15:16 GMT

Dyack: “The ultimate game console in the Cloud model is no console at all”

denisdyack

OnLive’s Cloud gaming model could well be the future for the industry, Silicon Knights boss Denis Dyack said today, and it’s likely to make consoles a thing of the past.

“What hardware one runs behind the wall of the Cloud is unimportant; only what you are transmitting counts,” said the developer, writing on VentureBeat.

“Thus, the ultimate game console in the Cloud model is no console at all.”

Dyack added that Cloud gaming will mean that reaching consumers will be far simpler if the concept takes off.

“In the Cloud, publishing and advertising become much easier,” he said.

“With the Cloud, getting directly in touch with the consumer may be as simple as starting a website. This means that those people who can create ideas will ultimately become empowered and that the future is bright for game developers as the need for traditional publishing and distribution also is commoditized.

“If you are wondering about the technology for the Cloud, it already exits and we will likely see public tests in the near future.”

He added:

“This model is attractive because it eliminates piracy 100 percent, since the consumer does not have anything to copy and needs only to log into the Cloud to interact. Technology is commoditizing the value of hardware to zero and a unified platform will be the likely result. Following this logic to its end, the implication is that hardware could be removed altogether. What hardware one runs behind the wall of the Cloud is unimportant; only what you are transmitting counts. Thus, the ultimate game console in the Cloud model is no console at all.”

Come on! No more consoles! No more wars! Creativity! Freedom! Total game! Slamming your cock in the fridge door! It’s all here for you! And us! And our children’s children!

Full thing through the link.

35 comments

#1

Blerk
24/03/09, 3:14 pm

It’d be funnier if he was called Donald Dyack. Or Daffy Dyack.

#2

Syrok
24/03/09, 3:15 pm

And when the servers fail no one can play. Fantastic.

#3

G1GAHURTZ
24/03/09, 3:16 pm

This guy has already proven his ‘expertise‘ when it comes to modern gaming.

#4

Patrick Garratt
24/03/09, 3:21 pm

I guess it’d have to be a Google-type solution for servers. Just warehouses full of computers. When one fails, it makes no difference. It just gets replaced.

#5

G1GAHURTZ
24/03/09, 3:25 pm

I think it’s going to be similar to how cable/satellite TV works.

It rarely goes down, but people accept that it’s bound to at least once or twice a year for a short time.

As long as they get the other 363 days of ‘perfect’ gaming during the year, I don’t think that most people will mind too much.

#6

Syrok
24/03/09, 3:27 pm

Probably.

Anyway, I don’t like the idea of being completely depended on one provider for all my games.

#7

Patrick Garratt
24/03/09, 3:29 pm

Is this is, then? Is this what we’re all going to be doing in a few years?

Personally, I think it’d be completely awesome if that were the case.

Although what are we going to end up with? A Microsoft cloud? And a Sony cloud? And one cloud being a bit flakier than the other cloud?

AND WHAT IF THERE’S A THUNDERSTORM?

#8

Michael O'Connor
24/03/09, 3:32 pm

““This model is attractive because it eliminates piracy 100 percent.”

Talk about missing the point.

Do you know what’s more attractive about piracy? It’s FREE! The pirate are not going to care about any sort of fancy infrastructure as long as they get something for FREE.

This is going to encourage piracy just as much as DRM did, especially if it becomes popularly supported by major developers, like DRM was for the five minutes it stuck around.

#9

Quiiick
24/03/09, 3:34 pm

Our cable network just went down yesterday. No TV, no Internet! :(

A bosster-box for all cable-connections to every apartment in the building died.
They replaced it within 4 hours though thanks to a service-plus agreement with the cable-provider.

#10

Blerk
24/03/09, 3:39 pm

We’ll have three competing clouds and ‘cloud fanboys’, smack-talking each other about ping rates and such.

#11

Syrok
24/03/09, 3:44 pm

And there will be soft toys for the fanboys. In white and blck

#12

Syrok
24/03/09, 3:45 pm

Edit: black

#13

Hunam
24/03/09, 3:46 pm

I’m instantly opposed to it just because dyack likes it.

#14

Tonka
24/03/09, 3:46 pm

But what about the CONNECTIONSPEEDS!
Why won’t anyone think of the CONENCTIONSPEEDS!

#15

G1GAHURTZ
24/03/09, 3:50 pm

lol.

Yeah, as for the piracy thing though… Theoretically, all you would need to do is get some sort of ‘chipped’ reciever that thinks that all subscriptions have been paid, and boom!

Free games.

Although instead of only having one or two free games, they’d have every single game that the subscription provides for free!

#16

Hero of Canton
24/03/09, 3:54 pm

This isn’t going to happen for YEARS. It’s obviously the best solution long-term, but you’d need everyone in the country on ultra-fast broadband. And that’s going to take a wee while.

#17

Roybott
24/03/09, 4:03 pm

I’ve heard several mentions of being able to play SD games on a 1.5mbps connection and 720p60 on a 5mbps connection but (unless I’ve missed a few things) I havent heard anyone mention anything about 5.1 (or better) Surround Sound? That’s going to use a massive amount of bandwidth isn’t it? (That’s if they really want to emulate the console experience)

I think it’s a good idea, but agree with everyone who says it’s a few years ahead of its time because the (internet) infrastructure just isn’t here to support it yet!

#18

Blerk
24/03/09, 4:05 pm

Why would they ever have the licenses on the client machine when everything else is on the server, G1GA? :-)

#19

G1GAHURTZ
24/03/09, 4:09 pm

LOL!

Oh yeah… Good point, hehe…

I’m sure there’s a way around it though… Whether it’s hacking passwords or whatever, I doubt they’ll be able to stop the pirates.

Also, just saying that you will be able to eliminate piracy completely is just a proverbial red flag to a bull.

#20

Blerk
24/03/09, 4:13 pm

Nope. I think this would completely stop the pirates. Once and for all.

Everything is hosted. Everything. The only way you’d get around it would be to steal someone else’s account, at which point they’d just shut the account down.

#21

No_PUDding
24/03/09, 4:21 pm

Well for me, this is not something to worry about considering we are atleast 5 years off something worthwhile coming from it.

#22

Michael O'Connor
24/03/09, 4:26 pm

“Nope. I think this would completely stop the pirates. Once and for all.

Everything is hosted. Everything. The only way you’d get around it would be to steal someone else’s account, at which point they’d just shut the account down.”

Pirates like their privacy, and their anonymity. They don’t like someone else controlling what they have access to, and they refuse to allow that to be the case.

Cloud gaming is not going to suddenly kill every and all other forms of distribution. We are not going to suddenly see the death of retail stores and other online distribution services, *especially* if latency becomes an issue with this cloud-gaming.

As such, the content and files are still going to easily available for pirates to get access to.

I’m not an active pirate, I only torrent things that aren’t easily accessible to me by normal means, and 90% of my games are shelf bought. – my piracy is limited to music, rare or hard-to-find games, and movies.

But it’s easy to get wrapped up in the hype of all this. The reality isn’t quite so sugar coated though. And the reality is this = the more you try to stop the pirates, the more they’re going to stick their finger up in your direction and laugh at you for falling for the paid option in the first place. They’re always one step ahead, and they’re legion in numbers.

#23

Shatner
24/03/09, 4:34 pm

exceptcloudgamingisntdeliveringgameCONTENTjustaviewofagamelol

whatarepiratesgoingtostealifnocontentischanginghandslol

#24

loki
24/03/09, 4:38 pm

fail

#25

Blerk
24/03/09, 4:43 pm

I think what he was trying to say is that cloud computing won’t completely replace the traditional ‘buy the game on a disc’ model. Which it probably won’t.

#26

Michael O'Connor
24/03/09, 4:44 pm

“I think what he was trying to say is that cloud computing won’t completely replace the traditional ‘buy the game on a disc’ model. Which it probably won’t.”

At as long as that exists, there’ll be piracy.

#27

David
24/03/09, 7:36 pm

I don’t careless if it stops piracy or not. for a small fee to onlive I can get access to the latest and greatest without the need to pay huge amounts of money getting a high-end PC.

Onlive could offer retailers cards with voucher codes equal to the price of a specific game or bundle so I doubt it will be the end of the retail side of gaming.

Things change so stores change to suit the current market.

Onlive if it works the way the promise sounds like a great idea and a welcome change in my opinion.

#28

Shatner
24/03/09, 7:39 pm

OnLivewoulddecimateretail.theirdaysarenumberedanywaylol

#29

Michael O'Connor
24/03/09, 8:00 pm

“I don’t careless if it stops piracy or not. for a small fee to onlive I can get access to the latest and greatest without the need to pay huge amounts of money getting a high-end PC.”

With the current speed of hardware advancement outstripping its implementation in the market by a laaaaaarge amount, hardware is at the cheapest its ever been.

Entry level PCs right now are starting at less than £300.

A good graphics card costs less than $100. a 1 terabyte hard-drives cost less than $60 pounds. You can buy 2GB of RAM for less than the cost of a budget game.

Nowadays, you can easily upgrade your PC well beyond the requirements needed for a game like Crysis’ for half the price of a PS3. The idea that it’s expensive is pretty out-dated.

#30

David
24/03/09, 8:04 pm

lol why would I need to spend the money on getting a pc to play crysis if this service works I can do it and never spend a single penny on upgrading or building a PC.

If works then I’ll be happy if it doesn’t then its only a matter of time till it does.

#31

Michael O'Connor
24/03/09, 8:09 pm

“lol why would I need to spend the money on getting a pc to play crysis if this service works I can do it and never spend a single penny on upgrading or building a PC.”

A number of reasons.

- Lag input between the time you press the keys and the image updating on your computer
- If the server goes down, or your internet connection dies, you’ll be disconnected from the game. Not fun if you haven’t saved.
- If the service doesn’t take off, or go bankrupt, you’ll never be able to access the games again.

It’s a pipe-dream.

#32

David
24/03/09, 8:13 pm

So cynical I’m more positive of the out come and not holding judgement till I see a real life test of the service.

#33

Shatner
24/03/09, 10:42 pm

verygoodarticlefromanindustryvetgoodcommentsafterittoolol

#34

Trivi4l
24/03/09, 10:42 pm

Isn’t that what EVO: Phase 1 did?

#35

detectorlam
01/04/09, 6:27 pm

thank you for your sharing, so great !!

Eric Lam

http://www.1gameconsole.com

Leave a Reply